


Shoot 'em In the Back Now

by Lucky107



Series: Rock 'n' Roll High School [12]
Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Drowning, Gen, Swearing, Threats, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 15:04:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8290139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky107/pseuds/Lucky107
Summary: The only numbers on her mind are the numbers on the face of the clock.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones - 1976

**April, 2007**

The bell rings and An is the first one out the door.

When it comes to mathematics with Mr. Hattrick, the only numbers on her mind are the numbers on the face of the clock.  It's no secret that math is a weak subject for her, but rather than spend a little extra time trying to sort out the barrier with Hattrick, she throws up her hands and calls it a day.

She's got a photography class now, anyway, so she plans to slip outside for a smoke until that familiar glaring scar catches her eye among the passing faces.

"Gary," An says, catching the boy off-guard.  It's the first time she's ever said his name, so there's no time to mask the surprise that flashes across his features.  Soon, however, he's smiling cruelly and she knows better than to fall for that.

Around them students shuffle on to their next class in a sea of chatter.  "This is so unlike you, An—who died?"

"Funny," she says, deadpan.  "I've got a little somethin' I'd like to discuss with ya concernin' Jimmy 'n' I think it might interest ya.  Think ya can meet me at the fountain at midnight?"

For a little thing, she's certainly bold.  Her expression shows no fault, though, and it dispels his skepticism.  With a coy little smile he asks, "Is this a date?"

An slips a cigarette between her lips and searches for a light.  "If ya want."

\- - -

Gary has no trouble escaping from the dormitory at night.

Anyone still on patrol around the campus grounds is focusing their efforts on the subtly obvious entrances in order to keep the students on campus.  Gary's hiding in plain sight once he arrives at the Bull fountain, where there's very little cover and very little room for an ambush.

An may play herself out to be a fool around Jimmy, but she's not stupid.  Still, she's left Gary standing all alone like a chump while he waits for her on a flimsy promise and for a moment he entertains the idea that she was caught on her way out of the girls' dorm.  As unlikely as the thought may be, it entices a chuckle from the boy before his eyes wander to the reflection of the night sky on the water's surface.

Closer inspection reveals on a glimpse of the boy that stares back: a refracted image - broken and unclear, just like Gary himself - but he doesn't linger for long.

He's not given the chance.

Unsuspecting and unguarded, the suddenness of hands around his arms causes his heart to leap into his throat.  He misses any opportunity to fight back in the momentary lapse of shock.  The strength of the attack is both familiar and unfamiliar—his mother's face flashes through his mind—before he's forced to his knees.

In a gullible moment of vulnerability created by an inflated ego, he became easy prey.  He knows he shouldn't be surprised by the long, dark hair that hangs down past his face as his nose is forced towards the broken reflection on the water, but he is.

He feels sick.

Try as he might to fight back against her, he finds little room to reverse their positions in spite of her size.  A bony knee digs into his back and forces him into place while one hand drives down hard on his shoulder and the other tangles into his messy hair, pushing him face-down into the fountain.

Venomously, he snarls at his own reflection.  "And here I thought you weren't coming."

"Never made a date I couldn't keep," An says.  Gary wonders if this heavy drumming in his ears is the last thing those losers hear before they're face-down in a toilet bowl.  "Can't believe you actually came."

"It sounded important."

He can feel her fingers curl around his scalp as she leans inward, her chest close enough to his back to share heat.  "It is."  And while he knows what comes next, nothing can properly prepare him for that moment.

It takes all of the strength in him not to gasp on impact because the water is as cold as ice against his skin.  In spite of himself, Gary's arms flail uselessly at his sides as he tries to find something to grab onto - anything that might remove the pressure from his head.  The feeling of being held down, _of drowning_ , instill real fear—

An pulls him up and he gasps loudly, sucking in as much air as his lungs can hold.  He barely has time to open his eyes, to take in the blurry view of the Harrington House in the distance, before he's thrust under once more.

This time his flailing hands search for the bottom of the fountain.  His aim is for leverage, to force himself back against her hand, but he fails to find enough support against the scummy cement.  As his hands slip on the moss, his chest burns and his head feels like it might just explode.

Seconds before his desperation not to die forces him to ingest the filth, Gary is once again pulled up for air.

An pulls roughly on his hair, exposing a little bit more of his boyish throat to the midnight sky, and drops of cool water slide down the smooth expanse of skin.  That's when he first sees it—the glisten of a small knife—and he swallows thickly with fear.

"W-what... do you want...?"  Gary gasps.

He's still reeling from the _first_ near-death experience and he knows that An isn't like the other students at Bullworth Academy—she was brought up by anarchists, a very scary breed of dangerous—but this...

With the flick of a switch the blade disappears back up her sleeve and, with one final push, she tosses Gary's limp body into the fountain.  He scrambles to keep his head above water, concerned with little more than keeping air in his lungs.

"You fuck with Johnny—with _us_ —again 'n' I won't be so gentle."

A conversation replays in Gary's mind, over and over, in which he convinces some addict who couldn't even tie his own shoes to do his bidding.  The dropouts of Blue Skies _are_ a very scary breed of dangerous, but he promised them power and glory like they had never known.  He had a very powerful army at his dispense and all he had to do was point.

When he turns his eyes on her, however, the look in her eyes is a look he hasn't seen outside of his own reflection.  That should scare him, but it doesn't.

He should also be humiliated to be pushed around by someone of her size, but he's not.  He doesn't even care.  He's humiliated that he let her—let anyone—get the jump on him when he's been so careful not to underestimate his peers.  What Gary finds himself more afraid of is the discovery of very real vulnerabilities that still exist within him.

The only lesson his mother had ever taught him was that he couldn't allow himself to underestimate _anyone_ , but he had gone and allowed himself to underestimate An tonight.

That's a mistake he can't afford to make again.


End file.
